ECOSTRESS Among Science Payloads on Next Space Station Mission

The ECOSTRESS instrument in a clean room. ECOSTRESS measures the temperature of plants, which shows how they are regulating their water use in response to heat stress. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/KSC› Full image and caption

A new batch of science is headed to the International
Space Station aboard the SpaceX Dragon on the company's 15th
mission for commercial resupply services, scheduled for launch June 29 from
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft will deliver science
that studies plant water use all over the planet, artificial intelligence, gut
health in space, more efficient drug development and the formation of inorganic
structures without the influence of Earth's gravity.

Take a look at five investigations headed to space on the
latest SpaceX resupply:

ECOSTRESS

Plants regulate their temperature by releasing water
through tiny pores on their leaves. If they have sufficient water they can
maintain their temperature, but if water is insufficient their temperatures rise.
This temperature rise can be measured with a sensor in space.

ECOSTRESS, developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California, measures the temperature of plants and uses
that information to better understand how much water plants need and how they
respond to stress.

MOBILE
COMPANION

As we travel farther into space, the need for artificial
intelligence (AI) within a spacecraft increases.

Mobile
Companion, a European Space Agency (ESA) investigation, explores the
use of AI as a way to mitigate crew stress and workload during long-term
spaceflight.

RODENT
RESEARCH-7

Spaceflight has an impact on many bodily systems. Rodent
Research-7 takes a look at how the microgravity environment of space
affects the community of microoganisms in the gastrointestinal tract, or
microbiota.

The study also evaluates relationships between system
changes, such as sleep-wake cycle disruption, and imbalance of microbial
populations, to identify contributing factors and
support development of countermeasures to protect astronaut health during
long-term missions, as well as to improve the treatment of
gastrointestinal, immune, metabolic and sleep disorders on Earth.

ANGIEX
CANCER THERAPY

Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are the leading causes
of death in developed countries. Angiex
Cancer Therapy examines whether microgravity-cultured endothelial
cells represent a valid in vitro model to test effects of vascular-targeted
agents on normal blood vessels.

Chemical
Gardens are structures that grow during the interaction of metal
salt solutions with silicates, carbonates or other selected anions. Their
growth characteristics and attractive final shapes form from a complex
interplay between reaction-diffusion processes and self-organization.

On Earth, gravity-induced flow due to buoyancy differences
between the reactants complicates our understanding of the physics behind these
chemical gardens. Conducting this experiment in a microgravity environment ensures
diffusion-controlled growth and allows researchers a better assessment of
initiation and evolution of these structures.